Halloween with Rylai
by sasyst
Summary: Dota fanfiction: Rylai loves Halloween. With Lanaya by her side, she visits the scariest creaturest to knock at their doors and shout "Trick or Treat" into their faces. The reactions she gets in answer are not what she expected.
1. At home

"What are you doing?"

Rylai looked up from the pumpkin in front of her. "I'm carving a face into the pumpkin."

A tiny frown creased the skin between Lanaya's brows. "But why?"

"Because it's Halloween of course."

The frown only deepened. Clearly the Templar Assassin didn't think that was a good enough explanation. Rylai rolled her eyes then she grinned up at the woman who was standing in front of her. "It is fun. I love to decorate my place for Halloween with pumpkins and candles and stuff. And someone has to make the pumpkins. Some of the staff helps me but since it's something I want it's only fair I do most of the work. And it is fun to make them."

Lanaya still didn't look very convinced. She had gotten better at doing things out of fun since they were together but, regardless, she was overly serious most times. Still grinning, Rylai held tools out for her. "Come, I'll show you. There are enough pumpkins that even if you don't get it right the first time it doesn't matter."

Now her eyes narrowed. "You think I'm not able to carve a face into a pumpkin?"

Rylai couldn't help it, her grin got wider. Dare challenge a proud assassin. But Lanaya sat down next to her and took a pumpkin. Then she watched how the Crystal Maiden did it, listening to her explanations before she started. Rylai kept looking at her from the corner of her eyes, not wanting to let her know that she watched. The Templar Assassin was extremely concentrated, utterly focused on her pumpkin. But all the concentration in the world couldn't help to cover how incapable she was. Oh, the pumpkin got a face but Rylai thought it was the ugliest face she had ever seen on one.

When Lanaya was finished and showed her work, the Maiden was glad she had watched the process. Because otherwise she could never have kept a neutral expression now. She just nodded. "Very good."

"You mock me." The narrowed eyes again, searching her face for a hint of mockery. But though Rylai wore her feelings on her sleeve, she was absolutely able to mask them if necessary. And this was definitely one of those moments. Because as with a child, one could never say that something the Assassin had done was anything but perfect. Not because it would truly hurt her feelings or anything but either she would never do it again or she wouldn't stop doing it until it was truly perfect. None of those options was what the Maiden wanted here.

So, as she would with a child, she smiled first at the pumpkin and then at the woman. "No, it's very good. Do you want to make another one?"

The Templar Assassin frowned again, then she nodded. "Not as boring as I thought it would be."

Rylai laughed. "Why, thank you."

They kept carving pumpkins the whole afternoon and though she had hoped the faces of the ones Lanaya did would get less ugly, it seemed this was no case of practice but a simple case of no talent existing. She'd simply have to find places for them where she wouldn't see them all the time but where the Assassin felt they were appreciated.

Aside from the fact half of the Halloween decoration created on this day was ugly, it was definitely more fun to make it with Lanaya together. After she had carved the first two, she decreased the level of her concentration and they talked, laughing and joking, planning what they would do during the event.

"You want to dress up on Halloween?"

"Dress up? Like, wear a dress?" Lanaya was clearly confused by this.

"No, silly, I mean like wear a costume."

"Why would I do something like that? Oh wait, don't bother, I suppose it's fun. What will you dress up as?"

Rylai leaned over and kissed her quickly on her mouth. She loved how the Assassin had loosened up over the time they had known each other now and how she asked questions, actively participating in a conversation rather than passively taking it in. "We could get partner costumes. Like little red riding hood and the wolf. You'd be the wolf of course. Or we could go as the same."

"And where would we go like that?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Kunkka has a Halloween party on his ship every year. He invited us. And before that we can go through the village and play trick or treat." Now she was grinning again. The villagers already knew she liked to do this on Halloween and weren't the least surprised that between all those kids going around she was going, too. Normally she would join one of those groups of kids but with Lanaya they could go as pair. She felt a little giddy at the prospect of having someone to spend this Halloween with, someone with whom she could do all those things she loved.

Sometimes she looked at Lanaya and wondered how she had been able to get this unbelievably gorgeous woman to be with her. They were so contrary but then they got along so well, suited each other perfectly. Maybe their differences brought them together, Lanaya's calm bringing Rylai down when she was too excited or too much swept away by her feelings while Rylai's cheerfulness made Lanaya not so stern all the time. Whatever it was, it worked.

"Trick and treat." Her voice was dry but the tiniest smile was playing around her lips. "Of course you are such a kid that you still do that. You want to know what I did the one time some kids showed up at my door at Halloween?"

"You probably scared them out of their wits."

"I did. No one ever dared disturb me afterwards."

She could so picture it, the kids opening the door, hopeful expressions on their faces morphing into ones of horror. And Lanaya, looking utterly unfeeling but laughing on the inside about having been able to scare them away _forever_. "You surely were the best neighbour they could get."

"Keep your sarcasm to yourself. They should have known better than to disturb me. Who goes to an assassin and shouts 'trick or treat' into their face anyway?" She shook her head. When she looked up and saw Rylai grinning, her eyes widened. "Oh no, you said you want to go to the village. I don't go trick and treating with you to some assassins and things."

"Ha, scared they will scare you away?" The idea had formed into her mind and now Rylai wanted to do this. She wanted to go to the doors of the creatures she feared or that were fearsome in general. The village was boring and with Lanaya by her side they could do everything! She laughed at her shocked expression but oh, this would be so much fun! "Come on, please?"

The Templar Assassin sighed and Rylai knew she had won. "Yeah, we'll trick and treat the shit out of them!"

"Rylai, you'll be my death, I swear."

"Yeah, but only because you'll die of too much fun."

"I'm absolutely sure of that."


	2. Visiting Friends

Ridiculous, that was what it was. The Templar Assassin dressed up as a wolf. And not even a realistic one.

Lanaya stood in the middle of the room, her arms crossed in front of her chest and glared at Rylai. The Maiden was completely unfazed by the glare, though, and just kept grinning. She looked unbelievably cute in a costume of little red riding hood, her blond hair braided into two plates, making her look way younger than usual. She had a basket in one hand, ready to be filled with sweets.

"Come on, you look good. Cool. Just keep that glare, it fits the costume." And then she turned around and _bounced_ through the door, down the hallway. Lanaya sighed but she could feel how much fun Rylai had and it wasn't that bad. She tugged her half mask over her mouth and pulled the wolf head deeper into her face, then she followed.

They walked down to the village, Rylai linking her arm with Lanaya's, while she bounced up and down. The Assassin just had to smile at so much enthusiasm and though the mask hid her mouth the Maiden knew it instantly. "I knew you would like it. But wait, it'll only get better."

"I'm sure of that." Her tone was dry but she had to admit that she was looking forward to playing trick or treat with Rylai.

The flight master of the village gave them a griffon for as long as they wanted. The beast would carry them to every location they wished to visit, as long as it knew it. It would never fly them into unknown territory but that was alright.

Rylai had chosen locations they would go to. The first ones would be some friends of hers, the Juggernaut, the Gorgon, the Bane Elemental and the Clockwerk. Strange friends and scary enough. Why Rylai would fear any other creature while knowing them, Lanaya couldn't fathom. The last place they would go to would be Kunkka's ship, where they would stay for the party. The Templar Assassin wasn't a party person, had never been to one before and could have gone the rest of her life without going to one.

But feeling Rylai's joy through their mental link made it all bearable. Maybe she would even have a little fun, too, though she'd never admit that. And she didn't have to, Rylai would know it and that would be enough.

The Juggernaut, their first stop, dumped an armful of sweets right over Rylai's head, which made the woman laugh and hug him tight. He nodded at the Assassin shortly.

The Bane Elemental, the next one they visited, grinned (Lanaya assumed it was a grin), showing lots of too big and too sharp teeth, before he handed the Maiden a huge bright pink and purple lollipop. Then, his grin getting even wider, he handed another one to Lanaya. Even her scowl didn't make him take it back so she had no other option than to grab the lolli.

The Clockwerk, the third place the griffon took them to, had discarded his armour, was half naked and was clearly confused to find visitors in front of his door. As soon as he saw the Assassin, he slammed the door shut. Through the wood, he talked to Rylai but the only sweets he had was some half melted chocolate, so she laughingly declined, wished him a happy Halloween and they headed on.

The Gorgon, the last one of Rylai's friends, looked them up and down, her eyes narrowing on the Templar Assassin. "So, that's your new girlfriend?" The words were hissed and her hair moved, all the snakes staring at Lanaya, too. Scary.

"Yup. We are living together. It's fine, stop trying to intimidate her." And she swatted lightly at one of the snakes.

Another glare, then the Gorgon turned her attention to the Maiden. "Wait a second, I'm sure I have some sweets somewhere. I have to hide them, when Atropos visits he always eats every single sweet thing he can find. I have to put them in new hiding places, too, because he is an expert at finding them. Give me a moment and I'm sure I can get something for you." And she did, though it took her quite a while. With a goodbye hug from Rylai, they left.

"Okay, and whom do you want to visit now? I don't think there even exists a scarier creature than the Bane Elemental."

"Yeah, maybe. But we met during the town wars. He is friends with Medusa. She is friends with Kunkka and I'm friends with Kunkka and so we met. And he is really funny. I like him very much, you shouldn't judge him by his appearance."

Lanaya looked at the two brightly coloured lollipops. Maybe he was funny but it was clearly not her form of humour.

So far it had all been easy. The Assassin was curious how it would be when the creatures they visited weren't friends with Rylai.


	3. Lord of Avernus

Sitting on the griffon, Rylai snuggled closer. "The Lord of Avernus is the next. He isn't that scary when you look at him, but the way he never talks and the way you feel his gaze without seeing his face, it gives me the creeps."

That was something the Templar Assassin hadn't noticed. She was glad when her allies in the town wars didn't babble all the time and as an Assassin she always felt when someone was watching her. So, in her eyes, he was just an eccentric, with his hood always hiding his face like that. She hadn't met him outside of the town wars, since she had rarely met anyone, with all her studying and such. When the Crystal Maiden knocked at his door, she was curious as how the Lord of Avernus would behave outside of the wars.

She almost laughed as he opened the door and he was, even though he was in his own house!, wearing the hood that hid his features. The only thing that would have made it even more ridiculous would have bee, if he had been holding his sword and sitting on his horse. She had just finished the thought, when the head of a said horse appeared from around a corner of the hallway and stared at them, snorting softly once. Lanaya coughed, trying to hide the laugh that was sticking in her throat. Of course Rylai felt it and she also, of course, knew what Lanaya found so funny.

Grinning at the Lord of Avernus she used her chirpiest voice to announce: "Trick or Treat!"

The hooded creature stood still for long moments, staring at the tiny blond woman with her little red riding hood costume. Lanaya felt his gaze flicker over her shortly, too, before he turned around and walked into his house. He left his door open, and she assumed that meant he'd be back. His horse drew nearer and snorted again. Rylai held her hand out, palm open and the creature dipped his nose against her hand. Then it turned around and left, clearly regarding them as uninteresting.

The Lord of Avernus came back and patted it on the shoulder as it passed him. He had found some sweets and handed them the Maiden. Without a word he closed the door into their faces.

Lanaya could feel a surge of amusement through their bond coming from Rylai. "Oh look, the Lord of Avernus gave us tiny marzipan animals." She showed the handful of multi-coloured sweets. "They are cute!" She took one after the other and inspected them, completely unfazed by the rudeness of the Lord of Avernus and the shut door in front of her. "Unbelievable! They are gorgeous! I don't think I can eat them." He held a wonderful orange sabretooth between her fingers. "Naya, it even has whiskers!"

They really were wonderful. Extremely detailed yet so tiny. Wherever had the Lord of Avernus gotten these sweets, Lanaya wondered. Was there a place where one could buy them? Did he eat them? She turned a white squirrel in her hand. Maybe he made them himself? Well, whoever had made them had put lots of work into it.

She popped the squirrel into her mouth. Rylai gaped at her. "You ate it! Oh no, you just ate the cutes little squirrel I have ever seen!"

"Hm, but it is delicious."

The Maiden closed her fingers over the sabretooth and she angled her body with the marzipan animals away from the Assassin. "You can't eat them, they belong to me!"

Lanaya took a step forward and reached for her. With a squeak she jumped to the side and then she raced towards the griffon. Grinning, the Assassin followed, having no problems at all to catch her. The way Rylai scowled and held the sweets protectively against her chest made her laugh. "Don't worry, I won't eat another one. I will find out where he gets them from, though, then you can have as many as you want."

That earned her a beautiful bright smile and a hug, followed by a kiss.


	4. Lifestealer

The next two creatures they visited where not at home. At the second house, the one of the Lifestealer, the Crystal Maiden scrunched her nose. "Maybe it's better he isn't there. His house looks creepy enough without him."

It did, Lanaya thought. She put her arm around Rylai's shoulders, tugging her against her body as they walked back to the griffon. She wasn't open with her affections but as long as no one was around, she felt free to touch the gorgeous woman by her side as often as she wished. Rylai smiled up at her and the Assassin pulled her half mask from her mouth to give her a soft kiss.

That was when the door behind them opened.

"What a nice surprise." The Lifestealer growled, making them jump apart, Lanaya switching into her battle stance within a second. "What did I do to deserve the honour of your visit?"

Rylai was motionless behind the Assassin for several seconds. She couldn't hold it against her. The Lifestealer wasn't the most beautiful of creatures and in front of his ugly house it wasn't any better. And the Maiden knew that this was someone she stood absolutely no chance against in a fight.

But, brave as she was, she cleared her throat and took a few steps forward. "We wish you a happy Halloween. Trick or Treat." Her voice was steady though Lanaya knew that she was shaking, only a little bit, with fear.

The Lifestealer crept forward and sniffed at Rylai. She didn't move away and it didn't look as if the creature was threatening her. The Assassin was nevertheless ready for anything and would have pushed her out of the way if he had tried anything.

He looked up at her and snorted. "You want sweets. From me."

"Um…" Rylai stammered. "or Trick."

That made him laugh. "I'd be very curious to see how that would look like but don't worry, I won't make you embarrass yourself in front of me. I'll get you something." The something was toffee in different shapes and flavours. "Careful, it'll make your teeth stick together for hours if you eat too many at once. Have a nice day."

"Wow," Rylai shuddered as they were sitting on the griffon, "that was really creepy. But he was extremely nice, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and I only wonder a little how he knows that one's teeth stick together after eating too many toffees."

The Crystal Maiden laughed. "Imagine him, his mouth full of toffees and he can't get his teeth apart."

It definitely was a funny thought.


	5. Sacred Warrior and Phantom Assassin

"Honey, there someone at the door!" The shout of a woman could be heard through the thick wood of the door. The answer was definitely more muffled, coming from farther inside the house. "I need a minute. Can you go please?"

"Must I? I'm very comfortable at the moment and I just made me a tea!"

"Please? It is impolite to let others wait in front of a closed door."

"I don't care?!" But whoever the woman was, she did move as Lanaya could hear some shuffling inside of the house. She and Rylai were standing in front of the house of the Sacred Warrior, the blond woman looking at her with raised eyebrows. They didn't expect there to be a woman in the house of the troll.

The door opened. "If it isn't something important you want, I'm going to kill you. I'm just coming from a job and I hate to be disturbed in my free time afterwards. Huskar promised to cook so make it quick." The woman in front of them was scowling, straight black hair tied back into a ponytail, arms crossed in front of her chest. Though she was wearing a black tank top and black leggings, Lanaya recognised her.

"The Phantom Assassin."

She was regarded with a glare. "What is wrong with you? Why the hell are you wearing…" she gestured at the wolf costume, " _this_?" She turned to the Maiden. "And what are you? The helpless girl who needs rescue from the wolf? You didn't have to change your clothes for that." She turned her head and shouted into the house. "Huskar, get over here, Crystal Maiden and Templar Assassin are here and they are kind of crazy. There is some event I don't care about going on again. I really don't want to deal with it!" Back to them she said: "Wait for Huskar, I don't even want to _hear_ why you are dressed like that."

And then she left them standing in front of the door. Rylai looked at Lanaya. "Um, you know what she is doing here?" Lanaya didn't. The Maiden pursed her lips. "I'll ask my gossip network. Someone will know." Then they waited. Rylai was so occupied with thinking about the Phantom Assassin's presence in the house that she even forgot to be scared about the Sacred Warrior when he appeared. "Trick or Treat!" He was wiping his hands on some cloth, his hair messy and streaks of dirk all over his face and body. He huffed. "Mortred, really, and you weren't able to get them some of our sweets?"

"I don't care about all those stupid events! I didn't wait for them to tell me what they wanted. It is disturbing enough to see them dressed like that."

"Don't mind her, she's a little grumpy because her last job didn't go as well as she had planned." He smiled reassuringly (if one was assured by a smile full of sharp troll teeth).

"I am not grumpy! And don't tell others about my jobs!"

The Sacred Warrior rolled his eyes and leaned closer towards Rylai. "She is grumpy," he whispered. He looked at Lanaya, then, and back at Rylai. "So you are little red riding hood and the wolf. Nice costumes." He smiled again. "I'll get some sweets, wait a second. I didn't expect someone to show up, we get visitors far too seldom out here."

"Huskar, if you invite anyone to come over, I'll hit you!"

Lanaya could feel a shiver of fear running down Rylai's back at the words from the Phantom Assassin, but the Sacred Warrior just laughed. Then he was back with a bowl full of chocolate bars, bonbons, packs of gummy bears and so on. "Grab a handful. And I wish you happy Halloween."

"You too!" Rylai smiled at him, clearly happy about how friendly and pleasant he was. Definitely unfrightening. But, Lanaya thought, they were learning this day that appearance meant nothing. Even the Lifestealer had been friendly, and the Bane Elemental, though Lanaya would never in her whole life have voluntarily sought them out and talked to them.

"See you around." Another flash of teeth before the Warrior closed the door.

"Wow, that was not what I have expected." Rylai shook her head as they headed back to the griffin. "You think they are a couple?"

Lanaya thought about it. It certainly seemed that way. At least they were living together. Could be they were only friends. But Rylai would find everything out about them. She had a gossip network that was awesome and only a little frightening. Because sometimes the Assassin thought there was nothing that would remain a secret from them. And what one knew, the others would know, too.


	6. Nightstalker

"Who's next?"

"The Nightstalker." Rylai scrunched her nose. "I fought against him in some town wars. He isn't only scary, he is so strong, and fast, one time he killed me before I even realized he was behind me. Unbelievable."

But when he opened the door, he didn't look that scary, except for his strange mouth that somehow covered almost all his face. When he went back inside to get some sweets, Rylai whispered: "It's day. He only has his full powers at night."

"That's right. But I can make it night. If you want to see me at full power."

The Crystal Maiden jumped as the Nightstalker was suddenly in front of her again. "Um, sorry, no thanks. Um, I didn't want to offend you, sorry."

"You didn't. It's no secret." He stared at them for a moment. "You going to a Halloween party?"

"Um, yeah, later." Rylai began to shuffle her feet under his gaze.

"Is it an open party or does one need an invitation?"

She blinked up at him. "You want to come?"

It was hard to read expressions on the Nightstalker's face because it consisted almost only of teeth. Lanaya thought that he was probably physically unable to smile or pout. But his voice was calm and she thought she could hear a smile. "Yeah. I have a costume I'd like to wear some time and I'm sure the-friends-with-everyone-Maiden knows which parties are worth going to."

"I, um, thanks, um, I'm not sure I can invite anyone. It's Kunkk's party. You'll have to ask him. But it definitely is the best Halloween party I've been to."

"Ah, the Admiral. Well, then, thank you for the information. Maybe we'll see each other later, then." This time the Assassin was absolutely sure she could hear a smile. The creature took Rylai's hand and, no one would ever believe it, he bowed slightly over her hand. "Queen of Ice, it was a pleasure to meet you."

The Maiden stared at the door that closed behind him for several moments. "Naya, these encounters get stranger and stranger. I'm not sure I want to continue, because what will come next?"

The Templar Assassin wasn't so sure, either.


	7. Slayer

The next creature wasn't at home and the one afterwards, the Death Prophet, seemed to be occupied with others things. She gave them a pack of cookies but didn't talk much. As if her mind was elsewhere.

"Okay, that was normal enough." Lanaya was relieved that not all encounters on this day were strange. Especially since the next one wouldn't be.

"I want to visit my sister," Rylai said.

"The Slayer? I thought you hated each other."

The Maiden sighed. "We do. But I haven't seen her in forever and I'm curious. I heard she has a boyfriend. They say he lost a town war for her. And not one of those normal ones, but one of those where one forgets all about the real life and thinks one has been born in the town. Where one doesn't feel like it is only a game to pass the time but where one thinks it's _real_. And he let her win. Only afterwards did he realize that it wasn't, that it was only a town war." She smiled. "It's kind of sweet. And then, because they were separated after the war, he searched for her. He called every favour in to get information about her whereabouts and he found her. Now they are living together."

When they landed near the house of the Slayer, Lanaya looked around. The landscape wasn't pretty and there were quite a lot of burned trees and stuff. The ground was blackened by soot on more than one place. She knew that the fire woman had a temper and it showed. Poor boyfriend.

Rylai knocked and they waited. A few moments later, a man opened the door. He looked to be human, was tall and heavily muscled. When he saw them, he smiled, which made him look rather gorgeous. If the Assassin liked men she supposed this would be her type. Someone whose smile transformed him into a beautiful, friendly looking, lovable male, which made one want to smile back no matter what, though he was probably rather fierce looking without it.

"Happy Halloween." He announced.

"Trick or Treat!" Rylai was smiling back at him. She had to tilt her head back quite a lot to be able to look into his eyes but that didn't faze her.

"Come on in, I wasn't expecting visitors. I have to put something together, first." He opened the door wider and gestured them in. "Take a seat. You want something to drink?"

"No, thanks. We don't have that much time, we want to visit a lot of creatures today." They both looked around the room. It wasn't very big but it looked comfortable. The man disappeared into what the Assassin assumed was the kitchen. She could hear the rumbling of his voice as he spoke and then, in answer, a woman.

"Rylai!" The Slayer swept into the room. "Sven was right, it is you!" She continued forward and hugged the Maiden. "It has been ages since we last met. How are you?" Rylai was clearly surprised by this greeting but Lanaya smiled underneath her mask.

The man stepped next to her, holding a small bag with sweets. He looked at the two women still hugging. "You should visit some time." His voice was deep and quite, the words only for her ears. "Lina would never say it but she misses her sister. All those things that stood between them were so long ago and she wants to bury them. Rylai has just been untraceable for the last decade." He handed her the sweets.

The Slayer released Rylai but was talking to her now, asking things the ice mage only nodded or shook her head at. She was definitely stunned by this friendly welcome. Lanaya took pity on her. "Rylai, come, we have to get going or we'll never be on time. Slayer, it was nice to meet you. Sorry we have to leave again." She nodded at the man and took the Maidens hand. "Happy Halloween!" Then she pulled Rylai out of the door with her.

"Oh wow," the Maiden breathed as they were almost by the griffon. "Who would have thought that?"

Lanaya smiled again. She would make sure they would visit the two when they had time and when Rylai was a little better prepared for the fact that her sister had changed just as much as she herself had. Through their link the Assassin had known that the Maiden didn't hate her sister anymore and she had suspected that, over the time, the Slayer might have grown to feel the same way. They were sisters after all.


	8. Queen of Pain

"You come to me to get sweets, from me?" the Queen of Pain glared at the Crystal Maiden.

The blonde woman kept smiling at the demon regardless of her tone or her behaviour. "Or trick."

The eyes of the Queen of Pain narrowed to small slits. "Someone told you, am I right? Who was it?"

"Who told us what?"

She pointed a finger at the Maiden. "I'm asking you! Don't play dumb. There are not many who know, and I want to know whom to punish!"

Rylai was clearly as confused as the Templar Assassin. What was the crazy demon woman talking about? "Um, no one told us anything about you." Her words were carefully spoken, as if the Maiden was talking to some skittish animal. _Don't make sudden movements, keep your voice calm_.

"Then why are you here to get sweets? I'm the Queen of Pain, I don't have things like that!"

"Um, okay, no problem. Then we'll just leave." Rylai took a step backwards, never taking her eyes off the demon, as if unsure what the female might do. _Never let a crazy out of your eyes_.

The Queen of Pain hissed, making the Maiden jump slightly. The Assassin tensed, not trusting the scarcely clothed female one bit. "Okay, fine. Wait a moment." She stepped into her house, leaving the door open.

Rylai turned to Lanaya. "What was that about? She seems even crazier today than normal." The Assassin shrugged, watching the dark hallway of the house as well as their surroundings. Someone, or something, was watching them and this place made her skin itch.

When the demon returned, she had a small bowl of chocolates in her hands. "Speak one word about this, and I'll torture you until you are mute from screaming." She dumped the bowel into Rylai's basket. "And when I find out that someone told you about me liking chocolate, and you lied to me, I'll do the same. I hate lying and I hate people spilling secrets." She looked first at Rylai, who nodded, and then at the Templar Assassin.

"Do I look like I'd gossip? Or like I spill secrets all the time? I couldn't care less about you liking to eat chocolate or not." Lanaya's tone was as emotionless as it could get.

The Queen of Pain bared her teeth, showing her demon fangs. "That better be true." Then she whirled around and slammed the door shut.

"Crazy bitch." Lanaya muttered as they walked away from the house.

That made Rylai laugh. "Well, she's a demon." She held her basket higher. "And no wonder she wants to keep this a secret. Look at the chocolate. It's so girly, with flower petals inside and in rose and purple and white." The Assassin smiled. It was _definitely_ girly, the chocolate shaped in hearts and flowers. She wondered why the Queen of Pain had given some to them. If she wanted to keep it a secret it would have been safer not to give them those chocolates.

But when Lanaya looked up from the basket, into the deep blue eyes of her smiling girlfriend, she thought that she'd probably not be able to deny the Crystal Maiden any wish, either.


	9. Legion Commander

The Legion Commander was in the training area. Who would have guessed? She wasn't fearful per se, but she was strong and one of the best fighters Lanaya knew. Everything about her was hard, her body, her eyes, her attitude. But she was a known lesbian so the Assassin supposed it would be the easiest task for her gorgeous girlfriend to get sweets from the warrior woman.

And it was. The Commander didn't stop her training but while she was hitting at her opponent, she told them the directions to the cupboard in her house that held the sweets. Then, between two hits, she winked at Rylai and smiled, which made the Maiden bite her lip and flutter her lashes.

The Templar Assassin rolled her eyes. She already knew that her girlfriend liked to flirt and that she wasn't above using her charms to get what she wanted. Not that she blamed her, one should always use all means at hand to achieve ones goals. Her eye rolling wasn't because of what Rylai did but because of the reactions she got whenever she did something like that. Lanaya had seen a grown man fall on his face because he hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking. It was pathetic.

And now the Legion Commander was almost speared by her opponent, who was definitely inferior in this fight. She cursed loudly as she narrowly avoided the sharp tip of the weapon stabbing at her stomach.

The house of the Commander was a mess but they found the cupboard and they found some sweets, too. The Templar Assassin watched as Rylai pulled something out from between the chaos of food and kitchen utensils. She scrunched her nose. "Gross." Then she turned a pack of bonbons over in her hands. "Seems clean enough." She glanced at the cupboard and then closed it. "Don't want to stick my hand into that until it is absolutely necessary. How can one person create so much chaos? And not care about it?"

"Too much fighting on her minds to think about so unimportant things."

Rylai laughed. "Yeah, she seems rather obsessed with it. I've never seen her do something else than fight. Never."

Back outside Rylai waved at the Legion Commander, smiling brightly and batting her lashes only a little. "Commander, thank you. And happy Halloween!" The woman waved back and was almost speared by her opponent, again. Lanaya couldn't supress her laugh as she turned towards their griffon. Pathetic.


	10. Necrophos

The Necrophos was ugly. He was sometimes called plague-mage so it was no surprise, but the green glow he was emitting didn't improve his appearance, it made him look like the personification of the plague itself.

"Oh, hello," he crooned. "Visitors on Halloween, what a lovely surprise." His grin was creepy. He leaned on his scythe as he looked them both up and down. "Hm, you want sweets? I'm not much into that stuff. The only thing I like is Pop Rocks. You want that?"

"Is that the stuff that pops when you put it in your mouth?"

Lanaya had never heard about it before but since she had seldom eaten sweets it was no wonder. It was also no wonder that Rylai knew it. She had probably tried everything she was able to get her hands on.

When the Necrophos nodded, she smiled at him. "I like it, it's fun." He nodded again and went inside his home to get these Pop Rocks. He appeared only a few moments later, a small bag in one hand (probably filled with the things) and three small packs in different colours in the other hand. He had left his scythe somewhere.

He handed the bag to the Crystal Maiden and then he spread the three packs on both his hands. "Take one, it is even more fun to eat them together than alone."

"Yay!" Rylai grabbed one immediately and then looked at Lanaya expectantly. The Assassin was taken aback.

"You don't expect me to eat one of these now, do you?" It was a stupid question because it was clear that she expected exactly that. The Maiden didn't comment on the stupid question, just raised her brows a little. Of course the Assassin wasn't able say no. She had tried it a few times at the beginning of their relationship but Rylai had this look, with a pout and puppy-dog eyes, that she used whenever she wanted something really bad. And whenever she used that look, Lanaya was a goner. (The funny thing about it was that Rylai never used this power with things Lanaya didn't like or was truly averse to. So she supposed it was okay, she having this power but using it wisely and in measures.)

Steeling herself for what was to come, she took one of the two remaining packs. She looked how the Maiden opened her pack and kind of toasted to the Necrophos. As she turned to her, the Assassin opened her pack, too, toasting first to the Maiden and then to the plague-mage. She only felt slightly ridiculous doing that.

The two then poured the whole content of the pack into their mouths. Wearily, the Assassin pulled her half mask down and did the same. And would have almost spit the whole thing out again. With wide eyes she stared at Rylai, who had her cheeks puffed out but seemed to enjoy the popping and crackling that must have started in her mouth, too.

The Necrophos then opened his mouth, showing the blue pops in his mouth, the sound of the things much louder now. Grinning, Rylai did the same, only her pops were pink. They stared at each other like that, the Necrophos and the Crystal Maiden, their mouths wide open while Pop Rocks crackled on their tongues. Crazy, both of them. Not as if she hadn't know that about Rylai before.

The Templar Assassin blinked at the two of them. What where they doing? Was it normal to act like that with these strange sweets? She swallowed the stuff, grimacing at the feeling of it all. Gross.

The two stood like that maybe a minute, before Rylai had to laugh. The Necrophos closed his mouth but grinned. "That was fun!" the Maiden exclaimed. "Thank you very much. And nice Halloween."

"Thank you. It was my pleasure." The Necrophos inclined his head. "I wish you a happy Halloween too, and have fun with the trick or treating." He nodded at Lanaya and then he closed the door.


	11. Lycanthrope

The manor of the Lycanthrope was huge, with an even huger garden around it. Rylai knocked at the door and waited. There was no answer. Just when she moved to knock a second time, they heard the screeching of someone somewhere to their left.

The Templar Assassin was immediately in battle mode as a completely naked woman raced out of some bushes. She darted sideways and then continued in a zigzag course, looking behind her if she could see her follower. That was when a man stepped out of the shadows of a tree, directly into her path and slung his arms around her waist, lifting her from the ground and turning in a circle once with her forward momentum. He was completely naked, too, and he was _obviously_ aroused.

Lanaya just wanted to help, when the woman giggled and wriggled in his hold, definitely not in an attempt to get away but more of a rubbing against his naked skin.

The growl of the man was audible even where the Maiden and the Assassin were standing.

Rylai nudged her in the side. "Um, you think we should make ourselves known? Or just try to sneak away?"

With another look the Assassin made sure the woman was really okay and this was some strange kind of play for them. The Lycan licked from between her shoulder blades over her neck up to her ears. The woman closed her eyes and moaned at that, her hands rubbing over the arms that held her tight.

"Sneak away. I don't really want to get in the way of the Lycanthrope chasing some woman he wants to have sex with." She wrinkled her nose. "I think I've seen enough."


	12. Shadow Priest

The next creature they visited was the Bristleback. He took one look at them and slammed his door shut again without a word. Rylai just shrugged. "Better than attacking us. Or insulting us or something like that. At least it was a normal encounter."

The Templar Assassin smiled. "That it was. Who's next?"

"I thought, maybe the Shadow Demon? Or the Shadow Fiend. Something with 'shadow'."

"How about the Shadow Priest?"

"He isn't really that scary. He is pink." Rylai swung onto the back of the griffon. So the Shadow Priest would be next.

After they had knocked, it took him some time to open the door. As he looked at them, he swayed a little and leaned heavily on his staff so he wouldn't fall down. He grinned at them broadly. "The Templar Assassin. And the Crystal Maiden. More dazzling than ever."

"Thank you." Rylai batted her lashes at the pink creature. He laughed and it sounded only a little crazy. "Oh, I meant myself. But you're not so bad, either."

The Assassin rolled her eyes while the Maiden laughed at that. "Trick or Treat."

The Shadow Priest straightened suddenly, which made him loose his balance. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, no sudden movements." He shook his head slowly. "I have some cookies, that be okay?"

"Of course. Cookies are fine."

Rylai smiled up at Lanaya while they waited. The Assassin smiled back before she scanned their surroundings. Habit.

"Here." The Shadow Priest was back with a box full of cookies. "Don't eat too many at once. You're not used to them and you might feel, um, not good if you have more than a few."

"Okay. Thanks. And happy Halloween!" The Phantom Assassin was confused by this warning of the Priest but Rylai seemed to be totally comfortable and not the least unsure by it. As if she always got food with the warning not to eat too many because one wasn't use to it.

When the Priest was gone, Rylai leaned closer to Lanaya and whispered: "Whatever you do, don't eat the cookies!"

Now her confusion was complete. "Why not? And if you don't plan on eating them, why did you take them?"

"Because it's polite, of course. I don't say Trick or Treat-that-I-like. So I have to take whatever I get. And the cookies taste good I just don't think you'd appreciate the effect they would have on you."

"What effect would they have?"

Now the Maiden laughed, then leaned over to kiss the Assassin on the cheek. "You are cute. You do know that this was the Shadow Priest we just visited? A shaman known for having his house full of strange ingredients to make potions and stuff? And for taking drugs in every form? And for always being high? What do you think will be in these cookies?"

"Oh." Now she understood. She pushed the box with the cookies away from her.


	13. Ember Spirit and Storm Spirit

The Ember Spirit opened his door with enthusiasm. Rylai had wanted to visit him because he was a creature she'd stand absolutely no chance against in a fight. He wasn't scary, he was simply much stronger than her. Or maybe he had just some abilities that could completely knock her out.

"Trick or Treat!" She wasn't afraid, felt safe with Lanaya by her side (though, to tell the truth, she didn't know if the Assassin was of any help against the Spirit should it be necessary).

"Oh, hallo there. I'm _so_ sorry, the only thing I have is ice cream, and only in a bowl. But you can come in and I'll make you some." His smile was friendly and Rylai looked at Lanaya to see if going inside was okay for her.

The Templar Assassin sighed inaudibly but nodded slightly.

"Great, I love ice cream!"

They followed the Ember Spirit into the house. "Hey, Raijin, put some clothes on, we have visitors!"

They entered the living room. The Templar Assassin walked slowly, giving the other creature enough time to put clothes on. She thought it had to be the Storm Spirit and she was more than sure that she didn't want to see him naked.

The male was sitting on some couch and he clearly hadn't moved at the shout from the Ember Spirit. He had some kind of extremely short pants on but nothing else.

"Raijin." The Ember Spirit put his fists on his hips.

"What? I have something on. If they want to visit us they have to get along with me wearing as little as I want. It's my home, after all."

"Fine, we'll just eat ice cream in the kitchen, then. No one wants to see a half-naked you while eating."

"You make ice cream?" The Storm Spirit sat up straight. "Give me a second." He zapped out of the room in a flash of electricity and was back in another second with a shirt on. He buttoned it while he stood in front of the Ember Spirit. "Better?"

The Ember smiled and leaned down to kiss the Storm on the mouth lightly. "Entertain our guest while I make the ice, would you?"

And so Rylai and Lanaya sat in the living room of the Storm Spirit and the Ember Spirit, the first talking their ears off while the second made four huge bowels of ice cream, complete with sauce and sprinkles and whipped cream.

For the Crystal Maiden it was clearly fun.

While they ate the ice cream, which was fantastic, the two Spirits sat next to each other, the Ember Spirit putting one hand on the Storm Spirit's thigh. The Strom smiled and shuffled a little closer, until the two were touching from their shoulders down to their toes. They were cute, even the Templar Assassin could see that. And Rylai did too, the way she stole a glance at Lanaya. The Assassin, of course, felt it and looked back. She also knew, of course, what the Maiden was thinking and raised her brows. She snorted and scooped closer to Rylai, until their bodies were touching too. "Better?" she murmured.

The Crystal Maiden grinned and rubber her thigh against Lanaya's before she resumed eating. Lanaya knew that Rylai didn't really miss these public affections but sometimes she would want to hold hands for a moment or, like now, just wanted to feel her. And it was okay. She liked it, too, just as an Assassin it wasn't wise to show affection in a public place. This, here, was semi-public enough and she smiled a little.


	14. Roshan

"Okay, the next one could be a problem. I don't even know if he can speak or understand us." They didn't stand in front of a house, but of a cave. It didn't have anything that could be defined as a door, just a dark gaping hole where the entrance was. Rylai took a deep breath. Then she called: "Hello Roshan! You have visitors!"

A second passed, then two. Then the deepest voice Lanaya had ever heard answered. "Come in." The sound kind of vibrated through her body and the words were almost not discernible through the deep rumbling. The Crystal Maiden shuddered slightly but smiled at her before she stepped into the dark. She vanished immediately, as if the dark had swallowed her, and the Assassin hurried after her.

And stopped dead in her tracks. She knew how the cave of Roshan looked in the town wars. It was always the same: small, dark, wet and uncomfortable. Nothing anyone would want to live in. But this here, it was completely different. The floor was covered completely by the plushest carpet she had ever seen. Or felt. The walls were coloured in a light yellow tone and pictures, from tiny to huge, were hanging everywhere. Two enormous chandeliers hung from the ceiling, bathing everything in warm light. The room was split by some movable wooden wall into more than one part.

Everything looked warm, and inviting and nice. And then Roshan stepped out from behind one of the wooden separators. He was huge and he himself didn't look any different than in the town wars, where Lanaya had fought against him more than once and had killed him (also more than once). She just hoped it had not always been the same creature but some kind of replication of him, otherwise he would probably kick her out of the cave immediately.

Rylai stared at the creature with wide eyes. "Oh, unbelievable, you are _huge_!" Then she smiled at him, as always ignoring his height and his rather frightening appearance. "Trick or Treat!"

The face of Roshan showed no emotion as he stared at the Maiden. Then he grabbed a handful of things from behind the wall and dropped them in front of her. The pile of things he had been able to fit in his hands was higher than Rylai and it consisted of shields, sticks, scrolls, potions and some other stuff. A few axes were there as well.

"Well, that's very nice of you, but those are not really treats." The Maiden tapped at a shield and when the pile slid a little, she jumped backwards.

"I thought so." The rumbling of his voice vibrated even more this close to the creature. "Don't really know what to do with the shit, though." He left them standing for a moment, the pile of stuff lying there. Before the two women could do more than look at each other, he was back.

"Here." He dumped the content of his hands into a second pile. This time it was sweets but they were huge. Everything was packed into coloured paper, chocolate, bonbons, gummy bears, candy, fudge, confect, and so on. But every single piece was about half as big as the Crystal Maiden was and the entire pile was even bigger than the first one.

"Oh." Rylai took a wrapped chocolate (she had to use both hands to lift it) and stared at it. "These are awesome!" She looked at Roshan and smiled. "Thank you! I can't take them all but maybe three or four." She showed her basket, which was too small to fit even one piece of the sweets.

Roshan nodded. "Take what you want, I put the rest away again."

Lanaya had to help to carry the four sweets to the griffon. "I wonder where he gets them this huge."

"There are lots of huge creatures. I know some who live near my place, and they always make cakes that are bigger than me. Sometimes they drop one in front of my door and I can eat from it with my whole staff for days. It's awesome."

The image of the Maiden in front of such a cake was definitely funny. As it was to see her carrying two huge wrapped sweets, only her legs and feet visible from her body, making her look like a walking chocolate.

Lucky for them their griffon had magical bags strapped to its sides where they could carry the sweets without problems. And off they were to the next house.


	15. Faceless Void

Next was the Faceless Void.

"Does he live in a house here? I thought he was from another realm or something." The Templar Assassin asked the Crystal Maiden while they walked up to a completely normal looking house.

"That's the information I have." Rylai stared at the equally normal looking door in front of her. "We'll see." She knocked.

They could hear shuffling steps before the door was opened. It was the Faceless Void who stood in front of them, but Lanaya was momentarily absolutely speechless. It even took Rylai a few seconds and an obvious clearing of her throat before she was able to chirp out her "Trick or Treat".

The Faceless Void, a fierce fighter with no eyes and nose on his face (hence the name), was wearing a bright yellow jumpsuit and was munching popcorn from a bowl he was holding in one hand. The yellow of the cloth from the jumpsuit made the deep purple colour of his skin more obvious and the casual way with which he wore it made his otherness stand out. Compared with this normal, almost boring house, Lanaya felt slightly off, as if this wasn't real. All in all, it didn't fit together, especially not with the Faceless Void being the creature he was.

"It's Halloween again? Give me a sec." He vanished. He didn't walk away, it was more like a gliding out of his place and appearing somewhere they couldn't see him.

"Wow," Rylai breathed, "this is really, really strange."

The same way he had disappeared, the Faceless Void appeared a few moments later at the place he had been standing before. He kind of slid into reality, from _somewhere_. He still held the bowl with popcorn in one hand, but in his other hand he had a full tote bag.

The Crystal Maiden took the bag and the purple creature popped a hand of popcorn into his mouth with his now free hand. He mumbled a "Happy Halloween" between two bites and closed the door.

They headed back to their griffon. "Did you see his slippers?"

Lanaya shook her head. She had been so shocked by this complete encounter that she hadn't even checked their surroundings, hadn't even thought about the danger the Faceless Void could pose.

"They were like the paws of some cat creature, too huge for his feet and with claws made of the same cloth as the slippers. Hilarious!" The Crystal Maiden began to laugh now, her shoulders shaking. "And his jumpsuit even had a hood! It had ears on it, yellow ears! I would've loved to see him put the hood over his head."

The Crystal Maiden didn't stop laughing throughout the whole flight.


	16. Mogul Khan

The door opened and before the Crystal Maiden could finish her "Trick or Treat", the Mogul Khan was already yelling at them.

"You come to bother me with this bullshit? Me? The mighty Axe?"

Completely undisturbed, Rylai smiled at him. The Templar Assassin was getting ready for a fight, though she tried not to attract the Khan's attention as she moved into her battle stance and called her Psy powers.

"Yeah, it looks like we do. You have some treats for us?"

"The Axe doesn't have treats!" He was still yelling, baring his teeth and puffing his chest out. "Get away from here before I show you my axe." The bang as he slammed the door was so loud, it rang in Lanaya's ears.

Rylai blew a breath out. "Well, at least it went as expected. Arrogant asshole." She shuddered a little. "I hate him."

The Templar Assassin nodded. "And you are afraid of him."

The Maiden looked at the Assassin from the side. "And you are not?"

She thought about it for a moment. Maybe… a little, if he was faster than her, if he was able to catch her unprepared. Otherwise no. In this situation they had just been in, no. She'd have won every fight. While protecting Rylai. Easily.

She didn't have to voice her thoughts, Rylai having been able to pick up on most of them, at least good enough to understand the general direction they went in. She linked her arm with Lanaya's. "I'm so glad you came with me today. I feel safe, no matter where we go and whom we visit. Thank you."

Beautiful, the Assassin thought as she looked at the blonde woman on her arm. She was the most beautiful female she had ever seen. She couldn't help herself, she had to lean down and kiss her. "I'd go everywhere with you, do everything for you."

The smile she got in answer was so bright, she couldn't resist to kiss Rylai again.


	17. Witch Doctor

Inside of the house was definitely some kind of party going.

The Crystal Maiden knocked again, this time louder. The door was opened by a troll but before Rylai could say anything, he opened it wider and motioned them inside. "Hey, come in, the party just started and we have way too little females here." The troll had a shirt with bones drawn on it on and he was painted like a skeleton in the face.

"Okay, thank you!" Rylai wanted to step inside, but Lanaya took hold of her arm to stop her. "You want to go into the house of a troll to a party, surely with many more trolls?"

"Um, I suppose you want me to say no."

"Come on!" the troll who had opened the door wanted to grab the Maiden's other arm, probably to pull her inside of the house, but the Templar Assassin pulled her a step back.

The Maiden sighed. "Okay." Then she focused on the troll. "Is the Witch Doctor here?"

"Zharvakko? Since it's his party I highly assume he'll be here. Don't know if he's sober enough to come to the door. I'll give it a try."

Through the open door they could see several trolls dancing to what they probably called music. They were all wearing costumes. Lanaya could see a ghost, a mummy, a pumpkin and several trolls that were disguised as nightelves. A sabretooth came towards them then, together with the troll who had opened them the door. The sabretooth-troll staggered and leaned onto the other troll so he didn't topple over.

In front of them, he pulled the hood (which was the face of the sabretooth) away from his face and grinned at them. "Hello, I'm Zharvakko. You coming to join my party?"

The Crystal Maiden grinned back. "I'd really love to, but we have to decline. We're just doing some Trick or Treating."

"DUCK!"

Before Rylai could react to the shout from some troll inside of the house, Lanaya had hauled her to the side, away from the open doorway. A split second later, something big flew past them and landed on the ground with a dull thud and a groaning sound. The Assassin was ready to protect the Maiden before the body had even hit the ground, but it wasn't necessary. It hadn't been an attack but more like a misunderstanding which had obviously been solved by kicking one of the trolls out of the house. The creature struggled to his feet, swaying and almost falling face first into the dirt again, before he made an obscene gesture towards the house and walked away on wobbly legs.

The Witch Doctor looked around the door frame. "Ah, you are all right. That's good. It hurts to get hit by a fully grown troll. They are quite heavy." He stepped out of the house, still (or again) grinning. The other troll looked over his shoulder, seemingly curious. "So, you want some treats. I don't know if the barbarians left anything eatable but just wait."

He pulled the other troll with him inside, so he could hang onto his arm as he walked.

"It looks like the party is fun."

"No." The Templar Assassin would under no circumstances go inside a house where a troll party took place. Except maybe to kill them all. But definitely not to _party_ with them.

The Crystal Maiden laughed. "It does, but I suppose your 'no' meant that it doesn't matter because we won't go inside anyway."

"Actually, it meant that it doesn't look like fun."

"Lame!"

The Templar Assassin narrowed her eyes but just as she wanted to reply to that (though she wasn't sure what to say, because of course Rylai was right, she was kind of lame, at least from the Maiden's point of view), the Witch Doctor stepped out of the doorway, still hanging on the arm of the other troll, with a small bag in his hands.

"I scraped the rests together and packed a bag for you!" He leaned forward a little and the other troll held him so he didn't lose his balance. "I made it because you are so cute and friendly. Not like her." He nodded towards the Assassin. He whispered but was still too loud not to be heard. "Don't give her anything from the sweets, they're only for you."

"Thank you!" The Maiden leaned forward, too, lowering her voice. "And don't worry, she's too uptight to eat sweets."

Lanaya narrowed her eyes even more, until they were only small slits. So now she was lame _and_ uptight. Just perfect.

"Happy Halloween. And I wish you a good party." Rylai straightened and then waved as they walked back to the griffon. The Witch Doctor waved back. He waved so enthusiastically, that the other troll had to hold him, _again_ , to keep him standing.

"You know that it is only fun, don't you?" Rylai asked before she mounted their ride. "When I call you lame and uptight? Because I don't care and I love you the way you are. You keep me out of trouble that way because joining the party would have probably been a bad idea. A _very_ bad idea. Your calm is like an anchor for me and even if I call you lame I don't really want you to change it. You know?"

The Maiden looked a little worried but of course Lanaya knew all that. "It's fine." She smiled at Rylai. "I know you don't want me to change. But you could show me what the Witch Doctor gave you. Because there are some sweets that I do like to eat. Such as…"


	18. Troll Warlord

"Cheese cake." The Troll Warlord held a plate with three slices out for the Crystal Maiden. The Templar Assassin scrunched her nose. No, that was not something she'd eat. Looking back at the Warlord, she scrunched her nose even harder. The troll had blood on his chin, his hands, arms and down his chest, half dried. Around his mouth he had crumbs of cheese cake, had probably just been eating a slice himself.

He bared his fangs as the Maiden smiled at him. Lanaya tensed before she realized it was his version of a smile. Trolls and their teeth. No matter what they did, they always looked threatening.

"Um, you have blood all over you." Rylai waved with her hand at his body before she took the plate with a 'thank you'. The Troll Warlord frowned and looked down. "Fuck", he muttered before he rubbed over it. To no avail, since it was half dried and there was blood on his hands, too. When he realized it, he stopped, his scowl deepening. "I just ripped a piece out of someone's neck. He must've bled all over me."

Rylai's eyes widened and she took a careful step back. "Um, okay. I, um, heard they bleed a lot if their neck is ripped open."

The look the Warlord gave her was a mix of confused and irritated. And though he was dangerous and the Templar Assassin was tense in his presence, it was a little funny too see Rylai trying to pretend the conversation was normal. With them talking about the troll having killed someone that way (Lanaya assumed that this someone was dead after the troll had ripped a piece out of his neck).

"And he tasted really foul, that's why I even _got_ a cheese cake. To get the taste of the disgusting blood and meat out of my mouth."

"Ahm, so you didn't bake the cake yourself?"

"Do I look like I bake cheese cakes?"

The Templar Assassin snorted at that, she couldn't help herself. She suddenly had a picture in her head, of the Troll Warlord in a kitchen, mixing flour, eggs and sugar in a bowl while his half clothed body was covered in blood, the bloodlust in his expression making him appear a little crazy. And of course he had an apron on. With flowers.

The Troll Warlord scowled at her. "Got something to say?

Before she could answer, Rylai stepped closer. She put her hand on Lanaya's arm and put herself a little between the Warlord and the Assassin. "Oh, she didn't laugh about you, but about me." She smiled her most brilliant smile. "Because, how _stupid_ of me," now she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way, "to ask such a _stupid_ question. How could you, the Troll Warlord, born to fight and kill, probably bake a cheese cake." She shook her head. "Not that you couldn't do it, but you probably don't have time for unimportant stuff like that."

Her smile was back full force and the troll really seemed to relax in front of the Maiden. He nodded. "Okay, then." He stared at them for a moment. "Bye." And he slammed the door shut.

Rylai pulled Lanaya away from the house. "You can't laugh about the Troll Warlord. He's temperamental, easy to anger. What were you thinking?"

"I assume you were thinking the same as me. Only you had more self-control not to laugh about it." The Assassin followed the pull, though she could have easily resisted.

The Maiden laughed. "Yes, probably. And it was a funny thought."


	19. Elder Titan and Nature's Prophet

In front of the door of the Elder Titan, they had to wait almost two minutes. The Crystal Maiden had knocked two times already and the Templar Assassin just wanted to suggest they leave, when the creature opened. He smiled at the Maiden but when he saw the Assassin, the smile vanished.

"Trick or Treat!" Rylai announced cheerfully and the Titan returned his attention to the blonde woman in her little red riding hood costume.

He smiled again, but shook his head. "I'm so very sorry, I don't have any sweets. I don't want to eat them and the best way to achieve that is to never have any in the house."

"You have absolutely no sweets?" the Maiden sounded incredulous, her eyes huge.

"Nothing with added sugar or other sweeteners, I'm afraid. I could give you some fruit, though, if you want. Or something salty crunchy, like nuts or chips of some kind." He rubbed the palm of his big hand over the base of one of his horns and leaned against the doorframe casually. He was huge, made Rylai look even smaller than she actually was. Didn't faze the Maiden the least, though.

"Fruit is fine. Do you have something fancy?"

"Oh, I do. Wait a sec." He pushed away from the door frame and ducked into the house.

"No sweets!" Rylai turned to Lanaya. "I would die without my daily dose of sugar."

"Maybe you wouldn't be so hyped up if you ate less." The Assassin's tone was dry. She didn't really think that. It made no difference if the Maiden ate sugar or not, she simply was full of energy all the time.

Rylai laughed. "Doesn't work, others have already tried that. Besides," she opened one palm and made tiny ice swirls dance above it in the air while she put an exaggerated dark expression on, "You don't want to make me mad. And nothing makes me madder than taking my sweets from me."

The Templar Assassin snorted. "Not difficult to believe that. Sugar addict."

The Elder Titan returned and Rylai was back to smiling in a split second, the ice above her hand evaporating into the tiniest snowflakes, which had already melted before they could hit the floor.

"Here, I have mangos, frozen apples, different kinds of berries and fruitcake. That okay?"

"It's perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Happy Halloween." The Elder Titan actually bowed his head a little as he said goodbye before he closed the door. Very polite.

As they headed back to their griffon, a huge strange flower appeared on the side of the path out of nowhere. The Templar Assassin stopped and got into battle stance, instantly calling a shield of psionic energy around her body to be ready for whatever was coming there. She made sure to be in front of the Maiden to protect her.

The creature that stepped out of the flower a second later was someone she had seen before. And he seemed shocked to encounter anyone here. He froze before he raised his staff and the other hand in defence slowly.

As always, it was Rylai who took the tension out of the situation. "Hey, Nature's Prophet. Nice to see you. I would tell you trick or treat, except we are not at your house. So I'll just wish you Happy Halloween. You going to visit the Elder Titan?" She stepped forward, between the Prophet and the Assassin. Lanaya didn't like it but Rylai wasn't stupid and when she trusted the creature in front of them, then there was no cause for her to doubt the Maiden.

"Um,…" his eyes jumped from Lanaya to Rylai and back again. "Yeah, um, I visit Cairne. Happy Halloween to you, too." He looked at the Assassin again, who slowly dropped the shield, before he turned towards the Titan's house.

Rylai tugged at Lanaya's arm, because she was still staring at the creature that had teleported in so easily. "Come, he is no threat. I heard the rumour that he and the Elder Titan are a couple. Leave them be."

Their griffon started when the door opened and Lanaya could see the Elder Titan kissing the Natures Prophet before he let him in and the door closed behind the two creatures.

"Ah, aren't they sweet?" Rylai sighed.

The Templar Assassin almost rolled her eyes. "Oh wow, you are touchy-feely…"

Another sigh. "I m." She snuggled closer to Lanaya on the flying mount and the Assassin thought she didn't care about her being touchy-feely at all.


	20. Shadow Fiend

They could hear the singing even through the closed door and the Crystal Maiden froze, her hand an inch away from the door she had wanted to knock on. Clearly amused she looked at the Templar Assassin, who had raised her brows at the sound.

It was the house of the Shadow Fiend, no one should be there _singing_. Especially not that good. The tone was full and clear, the notes hit with precision. They listened until one song ended and whoever was singing started another one. Then Rylai knocked.

The singing stopped abruptly. And when the door was opened, it was the Shadow Fiend who looked down at them.

"Trick or Treat!"

The features of the demon didn't change but he could probably only look fearsome. And more fearsome. The souls he had consumed glowed dark red inside of his body, the colour that seeped through the gaps in his skeleton giving him an eerie appearance.

"Wait." His voice was deep and melodic and it was without doubt the voice of the one who had been singing a few moments ago.

Rylai and Lanaya exchanged looks but they didn't have time to talk before the Shadow Fiend was back. He dumped a hand full of sweets into Rylai's basket. "Happy Halloween."

They were just about to leave, when the Crystal Maiden opened her mouth again: "You have a nice voice. The songs you sang sounded wonderful."

The Templar Assassin tensed immediately, convinced the Fiend would attack the Maiden now. But the demon just stared for a second before he inclined his head. "Thank you very much." With that he moved back and closed the door.

"Rylai!" Lanaya grabbed the woman and pulled her towards their waiting griffon. "Are you crazy? He probably doesn't want others to know that he sings like that. A demon! He'll just get shit for it from the other demons. Couldn't you have pretended not to have heard anything?"

The Crystal Maiden pursed her lips. "His singing was so loud we could hear it through the closed door. If he doesn't want other demons to hear him, he should sing more quietly. Besides, he didn't look annoyed ore anything to me."

"You can't tell how he looked. He always looks the same! And in my opinion he always seems to be pissed off about whatever."

"Didn't look that way for me."

"Rylai!"

The Maiden laughed at the dismay in Lanaya's tone. "Okay, I admit it, he always looks the same and I couldn't see if he was annoyed or not. I just liked his singing and felt like telling him. And," she swung her leg over the back of the griffon, "I didn't laugh at the Troll Warlord so he would feel insulted and behead us on his doorstep. That was you. So I had one free. Which I didn't even use now because the Shadow Fiend thanked me for my compliment."

Her wide grin was kind of infectious and Lanaya couldn't help but smile at the blond woman as she mounted the griffon.


	21. Venomancer

"Marshmallows." It was more a hiss than anything else, the creature in front of them looking like a giant snake, venom dripping from his fangs. Huge fangs, which were clearly visible in the slightly open mouth. Not that he would be able to hide them in any way.

The Crystal Maiden looked at the Templar Assassin and though she was sure her face showed absolutely no emotion, as it should be, the woman smiled. She had probably picked up on her little surge of joy at the word 'marshmallow' even without it showing on her features.

"Marshmallows are perfect!" she said to the snake creature, the Venomancer.

"Yes, they are," he hissed. "I like how they melt when they get in contact with my venom. It's the tastiest thing existing." He eyed them both up. "I suppose you wouldn't know how that tasted and I also suppose you wouldn't want to try it." His mouth opened wider, probably a smile, while a big droplet of poison splashed onto the ground. Astonishingly enough, it didn't do any damage to the floor the Venomancer was standing on, but since it was his home it made sense to use material that couldn't be destroyed by venom. "Viper and I eat marshmallows together. He is only a drake but he uses poison like I do. By the way, you don't have to go to his house, he's on vacation." The Venomancer nodded to a building not far from his.

Figured that the two creatures who could play with venom like they did were friends and lived near each other.

"I would invite you to come in while I get some marshmallows but I'd suggest you better not step onto the floor of my house, especially not you, Maiden, with your naked feet. Except you don't like them, then feel free, but I assure you, you won't have feet much longer when you stand where I do. So you probably better wait out here for a few moments." He started to turn away. "Oh, and don't touch anything, either. You are lucky enough that I cleaned my door a few days ago after Viper and I accidentally splashed venom on it. A wonder any of you can survive considering how sensitive you are to poison."

Murmuring something more the Assassin couldn't understand, he disappeared into a room of his home. She looked at the floor but it seemed to be absolutely normal. A few green dots here and there that she really didn't want to touch, but otherwise she would've guessed it to be an ordinary floor. She considered if she should put one of her feet onto it to see if it really was poisonous, as the Venomancer had indicated. Rylai grabbed her arm. "Naya! If you want to test it, throw something onto the floor. Don't _move_ there."

"Oh come on, I would only touch the floor with my shoe."

"Yeah, but those are nice shoes and walking will be difficult if the sole has melted away from one of them." The Maiden took a pin out of her hair and threw it in front of them on the floor. For a second, nothing happened. Then the pin began to smoke and within another second, it was gone. "See, that would have happened with your shoe."

Lanaya smiled and pulled Rylai closer. "Okay, you are right. Happy now?"

The smaller woman turned towards her and slung her arms around the Assassin's body. She was so cute in her costume. Lanaya pulled her mask from her mouth before kissing the Crystal Maiden softly. She was sure Rylai had wanted to answer but when the Assassin pulled away to look down at her, it seemed she had forgotten whatever she had wanted to say.

Suddenly, she felt someone looking at them and while she stepped away from Rylai she pulled her mask back up and turned towards the Venomancer. He stood in the hall, staring at them, seemingly unprepared for finding the Crystal Maiden and the Templar Assassin kissing in front of his house. He recovered quickly though. "No! Bad wolf. You are not allowed to eat little red riding hood!"

Rylai laughed, and even Lanaya's mouth twitched. The snake creature slithered closer, carrying a bag with one of the two tentacle thingies with mouths that sprouted from his back (or neck). A drop of poison ran down on the outside of the bag.

The Venomancer realized it and shook the bag until the drop fell to the ground. Then he held it out for the Crystal Maiden. "Here you go. The bag is as free from venom as I was able to make it."

"Oh, that's fine." Rylai waved with her hand a little. "Lanaya will take it, she also wanted to step onto your floor to see how her shoes would react to the poison. She won't be afraid to handle the as-free-from-venom-as-you-could-make-it bag."

Lanaya almost rolled her eyes, but then simply took the bag. She used a little of the psionic energy she could wield to shield her skin from any venom that might be on the bag. Then they wished each other 'Happy Halloween' and off they were again.

The marshmallows were the first sweets they had gotten that she liked and as soon as they were sitting on their griffon, she opened the bag and began to eat. Delicious.


	22. Lich

Rylai had her hand already raised to knock but stopped and looked at Lanaya. "Um, could you get a few steps back, please? The Lich isn't a danger and he might feel uncomfortable with you on his doorstep."

Lanaya frowned. She didn't care if she made anyone feel uncomfortable (except maybe if it was Rylai) so she didn't really see the point in stepping back. But as long as the Crystal Maiden was sure that the Lich was no threat, it wasn't a problem to do what she had asked.

A knock and a moment later the Lich opened the door. When he saw Rylai, he smiled widely. He was ugly (no wonder, he was kind of dead) and he must have stuck in ice for quite a while due to his body being all blue and frozen. But he greeted the Maiden affectionately, seemingly glad to see her. His smile vanished when he looked up and saw the Templar Assassin a few feet away.

"Trick or Treat!" Rylai beamed up at the creature and the Lich turned his attention back to the woman in her little red riding hood costume.

"I knew you'd come. I have something for you. You want to come in?" His gaze flitted to Lanaya and then back to the Maiden.

"Sorry, Ethreain, not today. I want to do some more trick and treating before we go to Kunkka's Halloween party later. You want to come, too?"

The Lich grimaced. "Well, I don't think I'll be welcome at one of his parties. There'll probably be only beautiful creatures like you. Lots of humans and elves and such."

"Why, thank you for the compliment. But I don't think so. The Nightstalker asked earlier for a party. Maybe he'll come and he isn't beautiful. And I'm sure the Tidehunter will be there, and I know some of the creatures from last year. Just make sure you have a costume, I can stay with you during the party if you want to and feel uncomfortable otherwise."

Oh no, Lanaya thought. That meant he'd be with _them_. And she wasn't sure she wanted to have someone trailing behind her all night long.

The Lich still looked unsure and the Assassin almost let out a relieved breath, when Rylai switched her charm on. She blinked up at the Lich and used her sweetest smile and the Assassin could see how it took only a second for the Lich to fall. "Pretty please? Come with me to the party."

"Who could refuse a request from the most beautiful woman existing? I'll come."

The Crystal Maiden got up on her tiptoes and hugged the Lich, who seemed pleasantly surprised by the act.

"Now, back to the trick and treating?" Rylai held her basked out and the Lich nodded before he disappeared inside of the house. It didn't take him long, it seemed he had been prepared for Rylai to show up.

He put whatever he had in his hands in the basket and leaned closer to Rylai. He whispered something the Assassin couldn't understand from where she was standing and then he smiled (creepy in the state his body was in) before he headed back inside and closed the door behind him.

As soon as Rylai was by her side, Lanaya wanted to ask what he had said, but the Maiden shook her head. "Moment."

They mounted their griffin and took off and only when they were high up in the sky did Rylai snuggle closer and answered the unasked question of the Assassin. "He has a crush on me for quite some time now and he gave me sugar hearts. They are blue and white and they have his and my initials on them. He says he's glad that I found a girlfriend and hopes you make me happy. He knows he and I could've never been a pair but he says it's okay and that we're still friends and that he likes me." Rylai sighed. "I hope he finds someone one day because he's too lonely up here all by himself. I like him and I visited him often before this stupid Anti-Mage thing popped up and I had to hide most of the time. I think I should come here more often again."

The Crystal Maiden opened the package with the sugar hearts. They were cute and she smiled as she popped one into her mouth. "Hm, he should really have a girlfriend he can make this sugar hearts for. Or a boyfriend. Or whatever. They are really tasty."


	23. Ursa Warrior

Before Rylai could say anything, the Ursa Warrior opened his mouth and roared. He was a huge bear and his mouth was full of huge, sharp teeth. He had his paws at the sides of his body, spreading the claws. He looked fearsome and Lanaya could feel Rylai shudder. But the creature made no move to attack so the Assassin, though ready to charge him, stayed where she was.

When he had finished his roar, he looked at the Crystal Maiden, baring his teeth.

The tiny woman, courageous as ever, smiled. "Wow, that was really impressive! You surely are the greatest warrior alive!"

The bear huffed and waited.

"Yeah well, trick or treat!"

"Is this supposed to be some kind of threat?" The Ursa Warrior growled the words and narrowed his eyes. It was clear what he thought of a threat coming from the Maiden. Not much.

"Come on, it is a saying! To get sweets. It's Halloween."

Another huff. "And I was wondering why the Templar Assassin and the Crystal Maiden are wearing so stupid clothes." He turned to Lanaya. "No one would mistake you for a wolf. Not even someone who's blind. You look ridiculous."

He shuffled inside and actually came back with a small bag in his huge paws. "Have fun with it."

"Happy Halloween!" Rylai announced cheerfully.

With a last huff the Ursa Warrior closed the door.


	24. Spectre

The house of the Spectre was strangely blurred. As if it wasn't truly there. But the door was solid enough, as Rylai knocked on it. Lanaya tried to get a focus on the contours of the building but the only thing that happened was that her eyes began to tear up and the house blurred even more. Great.

The Spectre, as she opened the door, was blurred like that, too. Her shape seemed to be in a constant state of movement so one couldn't see where her body ended. The only thing that was fixed where her eyes. They were two bright glowing orbs in the dark mass of her face.

"Ah, the Crystal Maiden." Her voice was ethereal somehow and sing-songy, not like any Lanaya had ever heard. Not like any that could come from normal vocal cords. "What could a teeny-tiny human like you want from me?"

"It's Halloween. Trick or treat!"

"Halloween? I see. But I have to disappoint you. I don't eat and therefore I don't possess any treats." She leaned closer and the Templar Assassin tensed. She didn't want someone as dangerous as the Spectre so close to Rylai.

But the creature only inhaled once before she straightened again. "Hmmm, and I don't think you need any more treats. You smell liked sweetness and colours, like easiness and cheerfulness. Like you yourself are a treat. Now move on little delight. I can't help you and I'd seriously advice you not to do any tricks here. My house is partly from a different dimension and we don't want you to get sucked into that one, do we?"

The Spectre hummed softly and Rylai smiled. "No, we don't want that. Thank you, though, for the nice words and the warning."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, sweet mage. Enjoy the day." For a moment her gaze moved over to Lanaya. "You too, delicate elf. May your weapon always find its mark and your shield stay strong."

Then she was gone. She didn't walk back into her house, she disappeared. And the door slowly shut itself in front of the Maiden.


	25. Geomancer

The moment Rylai knocked on the door, Lanaya could feel someone at her back. She whirled around, ready to strike, her shield up in an instant. The creature who stood a few feet behind her raised its hands, empty palms up for her to see, and took a step back. "Whoa, careful there!"

A second creature, identical to the first one, stepped around the corner of the house. It looked at the Assassin and then at its twin. "You never learned not to sneak up on an assassin?"

That was when the door opened. And now Rylai and Lanaya were in the middle of three creatures of which the assassin didn't yet know if they were friend or foe. She moved to the side and pulled the Crystal Maiden with her until the two women weren't between them anymore.

Though the Templar Assassin was more than ready to fight, Rylai ignored it. At least she stayed where she had been pulled, which made Lanaya feel a little better. She didn't drop her fighting stance and especially not the shield of Psionic Energy that surrounded them both.

"Trick or treat!" the Maiden announced cheerfully.

A forth creature shoved the third to the side to peer out of the door. "Oh, it's Halloween! Nice costumes you two!"

"Thank you!" Rylai was completely relaxed and absolutely undisturbed by the fact that more and more of them appeared. Lanaya in contrast was tense and not sure that this would have a good ending. The Geomancer wasn't a threat when he was alone but as soon as he existed more than two times, and here were four of him at the moment, he was extremely dangerous.

"I'll get you some treats!" It was the second one who spoke, turning around and disappearing around the corner he had come from.

"Hey, wait!" The first one ran after him. "What are you going to get?"

The third one rolled his eyes. "I know what they will get for you. I have something better." He pointed a finger at the Maiden and Lanaya flinched at the sudden movement, her hands itching to hit him. "Don't leave before I'm back!"

Grinning, the forth one looked them over once more before he, too, went back into the house.

"Um, okay, and how do I know if I waited for the right one? I can't tell them apart. How can he say I have to wait until he's back?" Rylai blinked, puzzled, and looked at Lanaya. Seeing her standing there in her battle stance, her Psy Blades ready, the shield still up, she raised her brows. "Really?" Then she shook her head. "Relax. The Geomancer is a little strange, or maybe the strangeness is only because there are so many of him, but he's alright."

The Templar Assassin wasn't convinced, but with things like that Rylai was usually right. So she put the shield down and stood up straight. Not that it wouldn't take her a split second to get ready to fight again.

Number four, or three? - well, Lanaya didn't know who was who there - so: one of the four, came running around the corner of the house. He was followed by a second and a third one. All three stopped in front of Rylai. They looked at Lanaya once, then focused back on the Maiden. Of course they did, since Rylai was smiling and clearly delighted by the sweets they had brought. (Not like the Templar Assassin, who couldn't care less about that.)

The forth Geomancer appeared in the still open door, carrying something, too. And a fifth one stepped out of the house. It seemed there was no end to the number of these creatures. And then they all talked at once. They pushed and held the things in their hands out for Rylai to take, everyone wanting to get attention. It was the last one who was only grinning, not saying a word as he held his hand out, something lying in his open palm.

He waited until the Crystal Maiden turned to him and when she gasped at whatever he had, his grin got impossibly wider. "They look like snowflakes!" Absolutely in awe, she took one of the things out of the Geomancer's hand. Lanaya couldn't see much but she would definitely not step into this mass of Geomancers to get a better look. She could wait until they were alone.

"They are wonderful. Thank you very much!" Rylai smiled at the Geomancer full force, which made the other four pout, one even sticking his tongue out at the last one. Another one shoved the last, which made him stumble and almost drop the sweets in his hand.

The Crystal Maiden put her hands in her hips and looked at every Geomancer sternly. "Stop shoving. All of your sweets are wonderful and I'll gladly take them all and I'm sure they will all taste wonderful, too. There is no need to get nasty."

Lanaya almost laughed. All five of them looked at the ground, clearly feeling bad about how they had behaved and about being chastised. By such a tiny woman.

"Now come," with a smile Rylai petted every Geomancer. "I wish you all a happy Halloween. And thank you very much!"

As they left, the five stood in a row, grinning and waving.

"What did he give you?" Lanaya was curious. And then marvelled at the tiny snowflakes made of sugar. No wonder the Geomancer had grinned so broadly. They were the perfect treat for the Crystal Maiden.


End file.
